Bob Mackin
Who is paying the bill for Vancouver’s FIFA Fan Festival amid a civic budget crunch?
The FIFA-approved watch party is officially a civic responsibility. But, in February, Mayor Ken Sim publicly called on the province to enable free admission in the new, civic-financed PNE Amphitheatre between June 11 and July 19.
The plan B for those who can’t get a ticket for a match at B.C. Place Stadium was supposed to open every day and show all 104 World Cup matches. The city’s FIFA secretariat announced March 7 that the gates to Hastings Park would open for free on 26 of the 39 match-days, with “more than 70 matches” to be broadcast on screens throughout the site. Maximum, site-wide capacity is 25,000.
But there is a catch: Sim and NDP Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sports Anne Kang jointly announced March 17 that only 2,600 free general admission tickets will be available per match at the new $187.3 million amphitheatre.
The other 7,400 seats will go on sale at prices to be announced.
What’s in the contract
The plans contradict the city’s original 2022 host city contract with FIFA, obtained by theBreaker.news after a three-year freedom of information legal battle.
The contract says “the Host City Authority shall ensure to allocate sufficient funds to the FIFA Fan Fest project to cover any costs in relation to its support of the planning, organization and implementation.”
The city originally budgeted $20 million.
FIFA provides the festival template. The Host City Authority is entitled to keep revenue generated from the FIFA Fan Fest.
Mayor Ken Sim (second from right) at the May 2,4, 2024 groundbreaking for the new Freedom Mobile Arch PNE Amphitheatre. (Mackin)
The contract sets seven Fan Fest parameters (three of which have been broken, in-whole or in-part):
- Taking place on each day of the competition;
- Allowing entry free of charge to the spectators;
- Providing a live-broadcast of all matches.
Passing the ball, passing the buck
ABC Coun. Mike Klassen, who doubles as the PNE chair, did not answer questions about the funding relationship between the city and province for the Fan Festival.
He referred theBreaker.news to the province and city’s communications departments. The province said a budget update is coming in late spring, and “there have been no changes to the delivery of the FIFA Fan Festival.”
City hall did not respond.
Last June’s World Cup budget update said the FIFA Fan Festival was part of $315 million to $345 million in host city costs. Other civic responsibilities include host city safety and security, training sites and brand protection, traffic and stadium zone management.
Since then, Sim’s majority ABC city council voted to freeze property taxes in the election year budget, resulting in cutbacks and layoffs. Sim vowed not to cut FIFA spending, for contractual reasons
Elsewhere
A similar Fan Festival in New Jersey, which planned to charge $10 for admission, was cancelled. Boston city hall’s will run for up to 16 days. Seattle decided to scale down plans for the main site at Seattle Center, but also hold smaller watch parties at three other sites: Pacific Place, Waterfront Park and Victory Hall in SoDo.
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